Look for Firebugs during the City Nature Challenge!
Keep an eye out for European firebugs during the City Nature Challenge 2020! Our community has recently posted some exciting observations of firebugs in new locations like Logan, Pleasant View, Heber, Coalville, Payson, and Cedar Fort. Are populations becoming established in these areas? Are there other populations yet to be identified? Help us find out!
The City Nature Challenge runs from April 24-April 27. You can find out more about The Wasatch team of eight Utah counties led by the Natural History Museum of Utah here: https://nhmu.utah.edu/challenge Any observations you make in one of the participating counties will automatically be added to the City Nature Challenge.
Of course, you can post your observations of firebugs anytime. We're excited to see where you find them next!
Comentários
We have literally hundreds of these fire bugs in our backyard. We are in South Jordan Utah. Glad to hear they are not harmful but I still Wonder if I should get rid of them. Is that frowned upon?
@grammygm Thanks for your note! It would be great if you could post a photo of the firebugs in your yard on iNaturalist. Is it possible that you are seeing box elder bugs rather than firebugs? They look very similar to firebugs, but are known for gathering in large groups in the spring and fall. Here is a link to box elder bugs for comparison: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53227-Boisea-trivittata No matter whether firebugs or boxelder bugs are hanging out in your yard, they are both harmless. Some people, however, find large gatherings of insects a nuisance. If you'd like to disperse them, you can try spraying the area with a mixture of citrus soap and water. It helps to do it early in the season and often. At the Natural History Museum of Utah, we've had success dispersing box elder bugs around our building with this method. It has many fewer impacts on people's health and other insect populations than pesticides.
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